So I took part in this hackathon NASA Space Apps Challenge which is an international hackathon sponsored by NASA through various local initiatives. Here in Gothenburg it was Almi who organized it in the nearby science park. Almi and Interactive Institute have some ties so was there to help out a bit, but perhaps more to participate.
I formed a group with one of my good tech friends and made an early prototype for a pervasive game, using AR, NFC and a bit of GPS. It was based on the engine me and another friend had built for our master thesis, NFC and AR Interaction in Mobile Gaming. The celebrity guest, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, even stopped by our station and showed some interest in the idea (or perhaps the seemingly large amount of work done for a hackathon, given that it was based on my thesis).
As for the hackathon submission, it was not super serious. I attended a “fraternity” (not really how it works in Sweden) party on the evening till today together with my team mate. He did not show up today… this plus I had huge problems getting servers and stuff to connect, and I focused on implementation rather than presentation (the latter would have been much more important for success at this event).
Submission site (not very impressive, probably why it didn’t win :P): T.R.E.C.
Image from another presentation which had an interesting concept but even better illustration. :)